Sia Partners acquires consulting firms in UK and the Netherlands

One of France’s largest management consulting firms, Sia Partners, has bolstered its position in Western Europe with the unveiling of a trio of acquisitions. In the United Kingdom the consultancy acquired two London-based boutiques – Inzenka and SKT Consulting – while in the Netherlands, Sia Partners purchased Dicitas Consulting.

“These latest acquisitions in Western Europe are in line with our strategy to accelerate our international expansion,” said Matthieu Courtecuisse, the company’s CEO and founder. Following the acquisitions of ShiftIN Partners in the Middle East, E3 in North America and Fove in France, the latest round of deal activity takes Sia Partners’ M&A roster to six in the space of twelve months. 

Inzenka and SKT Consulting

In the UK, the bolt-ons of Inzenka and SKT Consulting have turned the country to Sia Partners’ third largest market. “We now have 80 partners and consultants in the UK, generating revenues of £12 million,” said Rory Colfer, the firm’s UK managing partner. He has led the UK operation since September 2016, when he and fellow board member Irene Molodtsov joined from Molten after the UK consulting firm was picked up by Sia Partners. Colfer and Molodtsov established Molten in 2003, and had grown the firm to the size of around 30 consultants by the time they joined forces with their current employer. 

Founded in 2004, Inzenka is a consulting firm that specialises in growth and innovation consultancy. The consultancy has a team of around 20 consultants, working for blue chip clients in among others the healthcare, retail, consumer goods, financial services, aviation and telecom sectors. Launched in 2011, SKT Consulting provides regulatory consulting services to banking institutions and wealth management companies. The London-based boutique consultancy counts 10 consultants, specialised in risk & compliance offerings around Basel II, SM&CR, Sarbanes Oxley, IFRS 9 and MiFID II. 

With the two on board, Sia Partners UK is well positioned to accelerate its growth, said Colfer, with the aim of growing its headcount to around 150 by 2020 or before. Meanwhile, the firm along the way also wants to lift its reputation in the market, in a bid to muscle its way into the top-tier echelon of UK’s consulting domain, mirroring the firm’s reputation in among others France and Asia, where accolades have lauded Sia Partners as a top 20 player in the management consulting landscape.

For more information on the two UK deals, see the article ‘Sia Partners acquires British boutiques Inzenka and SKT Consulting’. 

Dicitas Consulting

Meanwhile, in the Netherlands, where Sia Partners has a fast growing practice, with double-digit growth recorded in the past two years, Dicitas Consulting has joined the firm’s Dutch operation. The boutique firm, specialised in digital transformation, was founded by consulting veteran Martin Hermsen, who prior to founding the advisory was a partner at both BearingPoint and Accenture. He has been tasked with setting up and developing Sia Partners’ Marketing & Customer Experience (MCX) practice in the Benelux, as well as co-leading the further expansion of the firm’s digital offerings. “Sia Partners has the ambition to operate at the forefront of digital developments, and the track record of Martin and his team speaks for itself,” said Robert Jan van Vliet, who leads Sia Partners’ team of over 40 professionals in Amsterdam. 

The deals sees the footprint of Sia Partners, which was recently admitted into the partner network of the prestigious World Economic Forum, grow to over 1,200 consultants and staff across 20+ offices in over 15 countries. 

Related: How Sia Partners is preparing for the future with its Consulting 4.0 strategy.